These are websites that were not designed with education in mind, but which can easily be used for learning purposes — particularly, though not exclusively, for English language development. I only hope that creators of “educational” content can learn from the qualities that make these sites so engaging.

I’m not listing these sites in any order of preference.

Here are my picks for The Best “Fun” Sites You Can Use For Learning, Too — 2008 (or, at least, for the last three quarters of 2008):

OPTICAL ILLUSIONS:

This year I’ve been helping my my students learn academic vocabulary. One new word has been “interpretation” and its various forms.

I’ve shown students several optical illusions that can be found at this at this one. Then, they have short conversations with other students about what they see: